This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

Willard Mitt Romney, governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007, was the wealthiest of all the 2008 presidential candidates. When he formally announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president on February 13, 2007, the former venture capitalist was believed to have amassed a fortune worth as much as $250 million.

After the first fundraiser for his presidential campaign committee on January 9, 2007, Romney had already brought in $6.5 million, more than the amounts raised by any other Republican contender. Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay and a former colleague of Romney, signed on as a financial co-chair of his presidential campaign. And first quarter 2007 fund-raising information showed Romney leading the Republican field with more than $23 million, though that was less than funds raised by Democratic contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the same period. Fund-raising results for the second quarter revealed that Romney had lent $8.9 million to his campaign from his personal funds, as well as that he had spent $20.7 million, more than any other Republican candidate. By the end of 2007, he had raised $88.5 million, but $35.4 million of that came from his own pocket.

Winning the money race, strategically outspending other candidates on advertising in the early primary states, and promising to donate his salary as president to charity (as he had done as governor) wasn't enough to secure Romney the nomination. He dropped out of the race after disappointing Super Tuesday results in February 2008, when opponent John McCain solidified his position as the party's frontrunner. Romney won only 11 state primaries and caucuses, 4.7 million votes, and 291 delegates. According to Federal Election Commission filings, all told, the campaign spent $113.6 million, $44.6 of which came from Romney himself.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: Mitt Romney ran for president and all he got was ...

Money losers of 2008: Mitt Romney ran for president and all he got was ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

As we learn more about the scandal involving the investment businesses managed by Wall Street power broker Bernard Madoff, it's a tale of failure by government regulators and investors alike. Madoff saw a weakness in the system and took advantage of people and institutions for about $50 billion (we don't know the final tally yet because Madoff kept several sets of books and the courts need to sort out what's left).

Regulators got too cozy with a man whom they trusted so much that he served on a advisory committee for the SEC on investor information involving scams, while the entire time he was building a business that will probably hold a record for being Wall Street's largest Ponzi scheme. He also served as chairman of the NASDAQ Stock Market.

Investors, including investment advisers and large institutions, were taken in by his charms and overlooked the fact that steady returns, like the ones Madoff promised, were suspect. Indications are that some investment advisers who did their due diligence advised against investing money through Madoff.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: The many investors with Bernard Madoff

Money losers of 2008: The many investors with Bernard Madoff originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 28 Dec 2008 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

Hillary Clinton is easily one of the most polarizing figures in U.S. politics. Perhaps it's because she combines the DNA of a female with the ruthlessness, grit, and cold-blooded calculation of the average male politician -- journalists never know whether to criticize her hairstyle, or her foreign policy credentials! (Governor Sarah Palin received similarly schizophrenic coverage: Yes, she's got an opinion about offshore drilling, but what kind of statement are those pumps making?)

In any event, it was a given that Hillary would run for president in 2008. As an idealistic, card-carrying young feminist, I'd personally been chanting "Hillary '08!" ever since I cast my vote for her in the 2000 Senate race in New York. Unfortunately for Ms. Clinton, it seems that most of her fervent supporters have a certain characteristic in common with me. No, it's not two X chromosomes; apparently, we're all broke.

When she suspended her presidential campaign in June, it was a bitter defeat for Hillary. Not only was she edged out in the primaries by an Ivy League rookie, but she also had to contend with a whopping campaign debt load. Reports indicate that the future Secretary of State poured $11.4 million of her own money into the campaign, just for starters. At the beginning of November, she still owed $7.5 million to various vendors, and the primaries haven't even been paid for yet.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: Hillary Clinton loses big in presidential race

Money losers of 2008: Hillary Clinton loses big in presidential race originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 27 Dec 2008 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

Some claim that Madonna has brainwashed Yankee's third baseman Alex Rodriguez, which I find hard to believe; from what I've seen of her in interviews, she barely has adequate brain matter for herself, much less extra to share. And A-Rod; you make a bazillion dollars a year, dude. If you're going to cheat on your wife and 10- week-old daughter (you dog), this is the best you can do? A woman 16 years your senior with some serious mileage on her, um, moneymaker?

The reported affair cost them each a fortune. A few years ago, Rodriguez received a $275 million contract with the Bronx Bombers, which has come out to around $6.7 million per each postseason hit so far. (Choke much?) A-Rod's jilted wife, Cynthia, sued for divorce, and the couple was officially kaput by September. Settlement terms were not disclosed. Meanwhile, the Yankees, still in need of a clutch hitter, are shopping for Manny Ramirez, who could eclipse A-Rod's baseball star (and his star endorsement value, already damaged by the bad press surrounding his divorce).

At the same time, Madonna was buying her way out of marriage to Guy Ritchie for an estimated $76-92 million. That's a lot of material, even for her.

A-Rod was rumored to share Madonna's interest in Kabbalah, rooted in Jewish mysticism. When it comes to mystery, though, not many are as perplexing as the pairing of these two. What do they share, except funny work uniforms and too much dough? Well, not so much dough, now.

Be sure to check out more Money Losers of 2008.

Money losers of 2008: Alex Rodriguez and Madonna, the new odd couple originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 27 Dec 2008 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

For decades, Axl Rose, the lead singer for Guns N' Roses, has shown nothing but contempt for his fans, his fellow musicians, the public. and women. He would cancel concerts for no apparent reason. In 1991, he walked off the stage during a show in Germany.

Rose, born William Bruce Rose, is not a stupid man. He knew that the public still clamored for Guns N' Roses. Its songs were mainstays of rock radio. People continued to buy the group's DVDs. So, Rose went to work on the band's sixth album called Chinese Democracy.

And work. And work.

Chinese Democracy attracted almost legendary status as a project that languished for about 15 years. That's almost three lifetimes in the music industry.

Some critics liked the Rose's creation that was recently released. Rolling Stone called Chinese Democracy a "great, audacious, unhinged and uncompromising hard-rock record." Fans were not as enthused.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: Axl Rose tinkers with Chinese Democracy

Money losers of 2008: Axl Rose tinkers with Chinese Democracy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

When Sam Zell acquired the Tribune Co. in April 2007 for $8.2 billion in cash, pundits speculated about whether the "grave dancer" who had made billions in distressed real estate had bitten off more than he could chew. The overwhelming evidence indicates that is exactly what happened.

Even by the very low standards of the newspaper industry, Tribune was a disaster. Many of its papers were big-city dailies that have been hit especially hard from the move by advertisers online. The Los Angles Times, the flagship paper of the old Times Mirror chain, experienced both the biggest declines in circulation and in newsroom employees, according to a New York Times report from October. During the third quarter, operating expenses in the publishing business rose 6% to $640 million while operating revenue plunged 13% to $654 million. It's no surprise that there have been boatloads of layoffs in the division.

The broadcasting business has also been hurt by soft advertising at the company's 23 television stations. Mark Cuban's efforts to buy the company's Chicago Cubs have reportedly been held up because the the loud-mouth billionaire's problems with the SEC. The fact that many businesses are finding it impossible to get a line of credit does not help either.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: Sam Zell's year from hell

Money losers of 2008: Sam Zell's year from hell originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

When Nike (NYSE: NKE) signed then 15-year-old teenage golf phenom Michelle Wie to an endorsement contract, it and the rest of the golf world envisioned her bringing to women's golf the kind of attention and money that Tiger Woods has brought to the men's game. When she won her first (and only) tournament, her combination of a powerful swing and camera-loving beauty confirmed she was destined for stardom.

And she did succeed -- in gaining endorsement and appearance money, at least. In 2007 alone, she raked in an estimated $19 million, making her number four on the Forbes list of "Top 20 Earners under 25." The only fly in the ointment was that, as her income skyrocketed, her golf game tanked.

Perhaps she was struggling under too-high expectations. As a 16-year-old, she played in the Men's Tour's Sony Open, missing the cut by only four strokes, but generating incredible press coverage. By the end of 2006, however, she was routinely missing the cut by many strokes in each tournament she entered.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: Michelle Wie, the next Tiger Woods? Nope

Money losers of 2008: Michelle Wie, the next Tiger Woods? Nope originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

I love football players. When they're not entertaining me with their athletic prowess, they can usually be found doing something reckless or saying something ridiculous. Plus, several of them have ushered me to a Super Bowl victory in the 2008 Schaeffer's fantasy football league (Andre Johnson of the Houston Texans, if you're reading this: you complete me). As such, Plaxico Burress is the best of all possible worlds -- a gifted wide receiver with absolutely no common sense.

As you've probably heard by now, the New York Giants suspended Burress without pay in early December after he accidentally shot himself in the leg with an unlicensed firearm. The Super Bowl-winning wideout arrived at a club in Manhattan with the loaded weapon concealed in his pants, but the .40-caliber Glock unexpectedly discharged outside the VIP area.

In other words, Burress's suspension was mostly a formality; it's hard to run those out routes with a bullet wound in your thigh, and he was already battling a hamstring injury. The withheld salary was hardly symbolic, though.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: Plaxico Burress shoots himself in thigh, foot

Money losers of 2008: Plaxico Burress shoots himself in thigh, foot originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Dec 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

It's hard to dispute the fact that 2008 has been a lousy year for singer/actress, Jessica Simpson. She entered the year with her new beau, Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys, and was immediately blamed for his troubling performance on the field. The release of her feature movie, Blonde Ambition, went straight to DVD without even blinking. Her debut into the country music realm has all but fallen flat. The kindest professional critique of her maiden country album, Do You Know, referred to that effort as "solid yet simple." The reviews go steeply downward from there.

In defense of the minx with the jinx, I think Jessica Simpson has been mistreated a bit. I mean, blaming her for the flat performance of Romo's Cowboys just isn't fair. But then again, we Packer fans know that those Cowboys are just loaded with handy excuses. It's just a powerful shame that they had to make Jessica Simpson one. Perhaps it's due to the shock of no longer finding Brett Favre at Lambeau Field.

As far as Jessica Simpson's acting career, I thought we had settled that issue with The Dukes of Hazard. As a matter of fact, I thought we settled it with her Pizza Hut commercial. You know, that's the commercial where they made her come out and say "Hi, Yaw" as if it was something she would normally say. Worst of all, they used the cut where her telltale neck tick makes her whole head jerk to the side. I suppose I need to reissue my "Jessica is not an actress" memo to Hollywood.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: Jessica Simpson, the minx with the jinx

Money losers of 2008: Jessica Simpson, the minx with the jinx originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 25 Dec 2008 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

Nothing gets the juices flowing like tales of celebrities in trouble. It lets people know that people we celebrate have problems just like we do. And when the economy goes sour, they occasionally have trouble paying their mortgages.

Take Wyclef Jean. The rapper/producer took out a $2.1 million mortgage to renovate a Miami Beach mansion. Then, according to media reports, he stopped making payments. Work on the property seems to have stopped midstream, as if the workman walked off the job. The house went up for sale on December 13. I could not tell if the sale occurred.

Other musicians having trouble keeping up with their mortgage payments include Fantasia Barrino, winner of Season 3 of American Idol, and Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul.

TMZ.com reports that Barrino bought the six-bedroom, 6,000-square foot mansion for $1.3 million in 2007. The county will auction the home off on January 12. Even if she loses the house, fans should not fret because she has got another one nearby, TMZ said.

Franklin, one of the legends of pop music, ran into trouble with the tax man in her hometown of Detroit, according to Reuters. Earlier this year, she owed a total of $19,192 in back taxes and fees on the property through 2007. It was not clear if this debt had been settled.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: Celebrities in foreclosure -- from Aretha Franklin to Jose Canseco

Money losers of 2008: Celebrities in foreclosure -- from Aretha Franklin to Jose Canseco originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 25 Dec 2008 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

Helium strikes again. The funniest of all gasses broke the heart of Londoner and jokester Lefkos Hajji, who had concealed a $12,000 engagement ring in a balloon full of the stuff. His plan? To hand his intended, Leanne, a pin so she could pop the balloon as he popped the question.

Sadly, just as Hajji exited the jewelers, a gust of wind snatched the balloon from his hand allowing wicked helium to carry his rock into the sky. A frantic two-hour car chase ensued, man vs. balloon, but eventually the helium made a clean getaway.

The English seem to have a particular problem with helium. In 2007, Calum McFadyen, at his four-year-old son's behest, tied his wedding ring to a Thomas the Tank Engine helium balloon while playing in the house. He forgot about it until his son opened the front door and the balloon made a mad, successful, dash for freedom. His dad was particularly miffed that his son stood in the doorway gleefully waving goodbye to his balloon.

The lesson? Never mix fine jewelry and helium: the cops don't pay attention to callers with high, squeaky voices, no matter how desperately you need their helicopter.

Be sure to check out more Money Losers of 2008.

Money losers of 2008: Lefkos Hajji learns that helium and fine jewelry don't mix originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 25 Dec 2008 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

Take-Two Interactive's (NASDAQ: TTWO) Grand Theft Auto IV has made a lot of money. It's been the recent driving force for the software publisher's fortunes. And the Grand Theft Auto franchise is the reason why Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) made a bid for the company earlier in the year (that transaction was never ultimately consummated).

But there's something of a sad story behind the glitz and glamor of the game. According to The New York Times, an actor named Michael Hollick, who played a character named Niko Bellic in the fourth Grand Theft Auto, received a small pittance in compensation when compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue that Take-Two took home for itself. Did Hollick earn only $2 million? $1 million? Did he only make $500,000?

Try $100,000. That's all Hollick grossed for himself and his major role in the incredibly successful game title! The Times article says that Hollick supplied his voice and motion-capture assets to the software, and he worked for about 15 months on the project. Can you believe that? No residuals, royalties, or anything else that begins with an r. Take-Two simply paid him a set fee and did not allow him to participate in any of the gross dollars captured by the mature-rated juggernaut.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: Michael Hollick, voice actor in Grand Theft Auto IV

Money losers of 2008: Michael Hollick, voice actor in Grand Theft Auto IV originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 25 Dec 2008 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

Almost every investor might be counted as a Money Loser of 2008, but anyone who is not living in or invested heavily in Iceland should thank their lucky stars (or anything else they might like to thank). With the global economic situation called as a financial crisis, then I can only assume that the Icelandic meltdown would be a supercrisis or maybe ubercrisis.

Iceland's three largest banks essentially failed in early October of this year, partially as a result of the crisis in U.S. financial markets. As interbank loans were getting tougher and tougher to acquire, Iceland ran into trouble because its banks were too large for the country's central bank to backstop.

From January of 2008 through September, the krona, Iceland's currency, had lost about 35% against the euro. Over the past few years, the U.S. dollar has lost about half of that amount, and it was still a big deal. However, this was just the precursor to Iceland's problems. At that point, it was roughly 130 krona to each euro. By the second week of October, the currency had collapsed and the last trade was at 340 before the government takeover of the banks halted trading. Currently, the system has been stabilized, but it is still 150 krona to each euro.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: People of Iceland as its economy collapses

Money losers of 2008: People of Iceland as its economy collapses originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

Being number four on the Forbes list of wealthiest persons in the world can't be too bad. That's where British-Indian industrialist Lakshmi Mittal found himself earlier this year, up one place from the year before. His estimated $45 billion placed him just behind Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Carlos Slim. But that was before he lost $30.5 billion this year.

Now a resident of London, Mittal was the founder of steelmaker Mittal. Upon its merger with French steelmaker to become ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT), the world's largest steel producer, he became the new conglomerate's chairman and CEO. ArcelorMittal's stock price was up around $104 per share this past June. But after increased production cuts due to the sudden fall in demand for steel in the past six months, the price has since dropped to around $25 a share now. Mittal, who owns 43 percent of the company, has seen a commensurate drop in value.

Mittal had been pursuing the acquisition of a controlling stake in Dillinger Hütte, a German steelmaker, which would have helped shore up ArcelorMittal during these difficult global economic conditions. He had wanted to engineer a full takeover of Dillinger as a way to boost the overall technological capabilities of ArcelorMittal, but it didn't quite work out. As a sort of consolation prize, the company will receive about $1 billion for a portion of its stake in the German company.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: Falling demand for steel melt's Lakshmi Mittal's fortune

Money losers of 2008: Falling demand for steel melt's Lakshmi Mittal's fortune originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

There's no doubt about it -- times are tough. People are struggling to find work and to pay the bills as the value of their homes and savings dwindle. The poor get poorer, and the rich get richer.

Or do they? It's all relative, of course, but world's billionaires have been taking some big hits too. We take a look at Sheldon Adelson, Kirk Kerkorian, and Lakshmi Mittal in their own separate posts, but here are some other billionaires who have lost billions this year (courtesy of Forbes and Business Sheet).

• Brothers Anil and Mukesh Ambani of India's private conglomerate Reliance lost $32.5 billion and $28.2 billion, respectively.
• Warren Buffett, the Sage of Omaha, lost $16.5 billion. Shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) are down about 32% since the beginning of the year.
• Microsoft (NYSE: MSFT) founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen lost $12.3 billion and $2.6 billion, respectively, while CEO Steve Balmer lost $6.5 billion. Shares of Microsoft are down 46% since the beginning of the year.
• Larry Page and Sergey Brin, cofounders of Google Inc. (NYSE: GOOG), lost $11.9 billion and $11.7 billion, respectively, and CEO Eric Schmidt lost $3.8 billion. The share price of Google has fallen 55% since the beginning of the year.
• Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL), lost $8.2 billion. Shares of Oracle are down 21% since the beginning of the year.
• Media maven Sumner Redstone lost $7.2 billion. Shares of his private investment firm National Amusements fell 70% this year.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: Billionaires who lost billions this year

Money losers of 2008: Billionaires who lost billions this year originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

Our series of Money Losers for 2008 has its share of millionaires and billionaires on it. Personally, I think that is just wrong. While these people may have lost billions of dollars this past year, it doesn't seem fair to call them money losers. They will certainly survive this troubled time and still have their house, their cars, and (at least some of) their fortune. However, on the flip side, no one would read an article about Frank the farmer from Iowa who lost 50% of his life savings.

Kirk Kerkorian made his fortune by developing real estate and hotels in Las Vegas and by buying and selling movie studio MGM three times over. According to the Forbes 2008 list, he is the world's 41st-richest person with a net worth of $16.0 billion.

This year has seen some bumps in the road for Mr. Kerkorian. His private investment corporation Tracinda owns about 55% of MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) and made a very prominent bad call on Ford (NYSE: F) earlier this year.

MGM peaked around October of last year with a stock price upwards of $95. At that time, Tracinda's 55% state would have been worth about $14.5 billion. However, with today's share price of just $13.50, that chunk of MGM is "only" $1.5 billion. Of course these are only paper gains and paper losses at this point, but it still stings a little bit to look at the bottom line.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: Kirk Kerkorian takes hits from MGM and Ford

Money losers of 2008: Kirk Kerkorian takes hits from MGM and Ford originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson's fortune has fallen $24 billion since the beginning of 2008 as shares of his Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) have dropped 95% during the year as cost-conscious consumers stay away from luxury casinos. (His fortune has dropped even further over the past two months.)

Adelson is a colorful character, who was a consulting client of mine in the 1980s. A brash guy from the streets of Dorchester -- a tough section of Boston -- Adelson first hit it big by creating Las Vegas-based COMDEX -- what was the biggest high-tech trade show around through much of the 1980s and 1990s.

Even though COMDEX faded from prominence since then, Adelson fell in love with Las Vegas and borrowed heavily to get into the casino business. Now his company holds $10.2 billion of debt on a $2.2 billion sliver of equity, and it lost $52 million over the first nine months of the year.

With the economy tanking and credit markets skittish, it could be hard for Adelson to recover. But he's been in tougher scrapes before.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. Portfolio will publish his book about Boeing, You Can't Order Change: Lessons from Jim McNerney's Turnaround at Boeing, on December 26, 2008. He has no financial interest in Las Vegas Sands securities.

Be sure to check out more Money Losers of 2008.

Money losers of 2008: Most of Sheldon Adelson's fortune erased by Las Vegas Sands originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

For a second year in a row, American homeowners are among the biggest losers of 2008. In 2007, predictions were that American homeowners would lose over $103 billion. Now at the end of 2008 the number jumped to losses of $2 trillion as the value of homes continue to fall with no end in sight. As job losses increase, even more families will be forced into foreclosure.

Homeowners who bought at the top of the housing bubble between 2005 and 2006, could wait decades for the prices to reach that level again. People who must move for a new job or family crisis find they either have to come up with cash for closing (if they find a willing buyer) or they must walk away from the loan and give the house back to the bank either through foreclosure or through a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.

The housing bubble that started to inflate in 2002 and burst in 2007 drove housing prices way out of the normal range. The normal ranges for housing prices track these measures:

• Income: The house price should not exceed three times your average household income, which was true from 1950 to 2000. In 2006 the average household income was $66,600, so the average home price should have been about $200,000. But during that year the average home price was about $300,000.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: The American homeowner, still sinking after the bubble burst

Money losers of 2008: The American homeowner, still sinking after the bubble burst originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

If there could be a more cruel joke played on the downtrodden American middle class this year, I don't know what it could be. Battered by high gas prices and a punishing mortgage climate in which millions lost their homes, at the end of the year, many were laid off. Desperate in a period of high unemployment, millions are turning to their 401(k) plan for emergency funds. And that's where the true emergency is.

My 401(k) lost about 40% of its value in only a few terrible months this summer and fall. I didn't have much to lose; I'm only a drop in a trillion-dollar bucket, with losses in the NYSE alone at $8.6 trillion for the year. In January 2008, the NYSE opened at 9,647 points, a value of $19.7 trillion. By mid-December, the NYSE was hovering around 5,500 points, a value of $11.1 trillion, an enormous 43.7% decline.

Taking an early distribution from my 401(k) due to a period of depressed income (I'm now a freelance writer and not an "employee," a title so imbued with special status in our society), I had to laugh at the automatic calculator that the Fidelity Net Benefits system makes you undergo in order to request a distribution, showing me how much I would be losing from my retirement income. If only someone could have made me go through this little exercise when I was responsibly socking away cash in stock index funds -- "this is how much retirement money you can lose if you trust in the American economy!" -- perhaps I'd have saved the time to log into Fidelity and just stuck the money in savings instead. I had to laugh -- so I didn't cry.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: The American investor, the joke's on you

Money losers of 2008: The American investor, the joke's on you originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

Back in the early 2000s, Spitzer was the champion of investors battling evil on Wall Street, and he was much more aggressive than the SEC. The SEC finally got mad and asked that Spitzer coordinate his efforts with them. I doubt many of the investigations that Spitzer led in the early 2000s would ever have happened if he waited around for the SEC to act. He was even named "Crusader of the Year" in 2002 by Time magazine.

Spitzer used the points he won as a popular New York State Attorney General to win the governor's race, but things quickly went downhill. First there was the scandal involving his aides who attempted to embarrass Republican state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno because of the use of state aircraft. Then Spitzer lost more popularity when he made it easier for illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses.

But being named as Client 9 in a prostitution ring took him down. Investigators found out about the ring when they followed the money after seeing funds moving from his accounts in a suspicious manner. In the end it was reported that Spitzer spent $80,000 on prostitutes. A measly sum when you consider the other money losers in this year's nominations. But for Spitzer it's more about losing power than losing money.

Sadly, he proved his own words to the BBC is 2006, "Everyone is susceptible to the notion that when you begin to do well, you begin to see no boundary lines and forget the rules apply."

Be sure to check out more Money Losers of 2008.

Money losers of 2008: Eliot Spitzer, from Crusader of the Year to Client 9 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.